William braidwood



WILLIAM BRAIDWOOD, o 'r NEW roeien.` Y.

Letters Patent ly' 80,444, dated July 28, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN IfRINTING-PBESSES dige rigrtntr referat tu it tlgrsr@niet ntcut tnt making part ni tige stmt.

To ALL wHoM 1T MAY eoNonnN: n v

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BnAInwooD, ot` New York, in the countyandState of New York, have invented a new' and useful Improvement inPrinting-Presses; `and I do hereby declare the following to'be a.

full, clear, and exact description thereof, whichwill enable thoseskilled in the art to 4malle and use the sarne reference being had tothe accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in whichdrawing-- Figure l represents a sectional side elevation of thisinvention.

Figure 2 is a transverse section thereof.l

Figure 3 is an elevation of the press, showing the opposite side fromthat shown in lig. 1.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts. l

Thisinvention consists inthe arrangement oi' slots in theconnection-rods, which impart motion to the platen, in such a manner,that, by the slots in the slotted connection-rods, the platen ispermitted to dwell, and thereby suihcient time is gained to adjust thesheets of paper .onthe platen, if the press is worked rapidly;

The invention consists, further, in the arrangement of distinct levers,independent of the platen, in'comf bination with rods connecting withcrank-pins, and with other rods connecting with the roller-carriage, insuch a manner that the motion of the roller-carriage is entirelyindependent of that of the platen, and the two motions can be regulated,each for itself', to suit circumstances.

The invention consists, also, in the arrangement ofyielding bearings inthe slots ofthe slotted connectionrods which impart motion to theplaten, in such a manner that sudden shocks or blows areavoided if -thepress is worked rapidly. t y

The invention further consists in the arrangement of' a spring-stop, to`catch and support the platen as the sameapproaches the lowest end ofits stroke, thereby preventing sudden shocks or blows.

The invention consists, further, in thc'arrangement of a spring-arm, incombination with a bell-crank lever, and with the rock-shaft whichcarries the eardldrop,V in such a manner that when the platen movesforward, the

card-drop is held in close contact therewith by the action of thespring-arm, and as the platen reccdes, after the` impression has beentaken, the card-drop is raised, and the printedcard permitted to slideoli', and then the cardtlrop is returned to the surface of the platen,ready to receive a new card, v

It consists, furtherkin the arrangement of a chain, extending from theframe to a lever mounted on the end of the rock-shaft, which carries thefinger-gin such a manner that when the platen rcecdes, the fingers areraised by the action of said chain, and the printed sheet can beconveniently removed, and a fresh sheet can bc adjusted on the platen,and as the platen advances, the chain becomes slack, and the sheet ofpaper is held by the iingers while the impression is ta1 I A representsa frame, which is made of lcast iron or any other suitable material, andprovided with guideways, a, to receive the rollerfcarriage Bi Thiscarriage receives areciprocating motion by rods which extendv fromlovers c to eccentric wrist-pins d, secured to disks e on the ends ofdriving-shaft C.

The levers c roel: on studs f, which project from the sides ot' theframe A, and their enter ends connect, by rods g, with therollor-carriage, as clearly shown in the drawing. The connection betweenthe rods b and lovers c will, in practice, he made adjustable, so thatthe throw of the`rollercarriage can be adjusted.

The platen D is firmly secured to arms 7L, which rock on the studs f, orany other studs fastened in the side pieces ol' the frame A, and theoscillating motion of the platen is produced by rods z', which extendfrom the wrist-pins rZ to armsj, which project from the`ends of theplaten, as shown, said rods being attached to the arms by studs k, whichare secured in the ends of said arms. The studs pass through slots Z inthe rods t', so that the platen will remain stationary, or have a dwell,during a portion of the revolution of. the driving-shaft C. This dwelltakes place when the platen has arrived in its lowest-position, so'thatthe operator has time to adjust on the platen a fresh sheet or piece ofpaper, or other material to be printed, while at the same time theroller-carriage continues in its motion, and supplies the types onf thebed with the requisite quantity of ink.

If the press is worked rapidly, the dwell ofthe platen is absolutelynecessary'to give the operator time to adjust his paper or sheet; and inorder to prevent shocks or blows in the slots of the rods 2', Ihaveprovided yielding bearings, m, which are fitted' into said slots,being acted upon-by springs, n, as clearly shown in iig. 1 of rthedrawing. These springs are enclosed in a chamber in the ends of theirrods, and their tension lor force is adjusted by caps, o, .which screwon the ends of the rods z'. As said rods begin to move in the directionof the arrow marked thereon in iig. 1, the springs u are graduallycompressed, and by the time the bearings mhave reached the outer ends oftheir slots, the force of the springs is such that very littleadditional power is required to start the platen from its state of'rest.f Y I I When the platen approaches its low-est position, itstrikes theSpring-stop or cushion p, so that all undue strain on the rods z' andwrist-pins d is avoided. In printing cards, I use a card-drop, whichconsists of a finger, p', provided with a'projecting lip, and attachedto the ingershaft g. On one end of this shaft is mounted Yan arm, r,(see rr. 3,) from which extends a spring, s, to the end of a bracket,,'that is firmly secured to the rear surface of the platen in such amanner, that, by said spring, the ngeror-card-drop p is forced downtowards the face of the platen. On the opposite end of the finger-shaftis'mounted a bell-crank lever, u n, one arm, u,

of which is curved, and forms a stop, as will be presently explained,while fromiits other arm, n', extends a stud, w, which acts against thecurved spring-arm sr. This arm extends from the frame A, and as thepla-ten moves in towards the bed,-thestud w catches under the outer endof the spring-arm and the card-drop is held in iirm contact with thefaceof theplaten during thetime the impression is taken. After theimpression has been taken, thc platen recedes, and, by the action of thespring-arm :v on the stud w, `the finger-shaft q is turned, and.

the card-drop is raised, so that the card previously bearing against itslides oli' from the platen. This backward motion of the card-drop islimited bythe stop u, which strikes one of the arms j, extendingfromtheplaten, or any other portion ot' said platen, and retainsthc nger-shaft,while the stud w glides out from under the springarm After -the studclears the spring-arm, the card-drop is carried back to the face of theplaten by the spring s, or by the weight of the arm u, or by bothcombined, ready to receive a new card. l

In printing large sheets of paper, the card-drop is replaced by twofingers, which are adjustable on the finger-shaft, to suit the width ofthe paper. In this case, Iremove the elbow-lever uo from the end of thefinger-shaft, and connect a chain, y, to thee'nd of the arm a", (seeiig. 3,) the length of the chain being adjusted to suit the convenienceof the operator. l As the platen recedes, the chain, which is secured tothe frame A, is stretched, and, finally, the finger-shaft is turned backagainst the action of -its springs, so that the operator has time toremove the printed sheet, and introduce a fresh one, before the platenbegins its returny stroke. As the platen approaches the bed, the chain ybecomes slack,.and the-ngers bear firmly on the sheet of paper, andretain the same in the proper position whilevthe impression is taken.

Instead of chains y, I propose, also, to usc a hook, secured to theframe, as'shown iu rcd lines zin fig. 3, in such a position that a studprojecting from the arm 1 will strike it'as the platen turns down, andthereby the nger-shaft will be turned, Aand the fingers will be liftedfrom the platen, but when the platen moves in towards the bed, theA arm1" will gradually draw away from the end of the hook, and the ngers willclose down upon the sheet of paper on the platen. This device I consideras alneohanical equivalent of' the chain y, previously described. I n

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1'. The levers e, hung independent of the platen, operated as described,in combination with the rods f g, crank-pins cl, and roller-carriage B,substantially as and for the purpose setv forth.

2. The slots Z, in the connection-rods z', provided with bearings m,springs n, and adjusting-screws o, to sperato in combination with theplaten D of a printing-press, in the manner and for'the purposedescribed.

I 3. The spring-arm :5, in combination with the bell-crank lever u v,and card-drop p', substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

WM. BRAIDWOOD Witnesses:

SAML W. Terran, OHAS. WAHLnns.

